The Beach
by Jane Doe1111
Summary: Phoebe accompanies Gerald to the beach, where she ponders their relationship. One-shot


Hey Guys, I thought I'd give writing Phoebe a try. In nearly every fanfic I've seen, Gerald and Phoebe are the perfect couple, always giving sage advice to Arnold/Helga about what to do next in the relationship and blahdee blah blah. I thought long and hard about who to cast in this role, and decided that Helga wouldn't react or... put up with this.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything created by Craig Bartlett. I wish I did, but I don't.

X x x x x x x x x x x x

'Is this my life? Is this all that I am destined to be?' Phoebe Hyerdahl stood on the surf, watching as her boyfriend waded out into the waves for better distance as he cast his rod. The trip had been a waste so far.

"_Phoebe, put on something somewhat presentable, and let's go fishing." Gerald's sudden demand mildly shocked Phoebe. She was sitting in their bedroom, tidying up. The closet had been a disaster, and she was determined to clean it. Gerald's sudden burst in and out had distracted her, and she looked at herself. She hadn't showered yet today, and she was wearing shorts and a shirt from yesterday. Perhaps his comment was not as uncalled for as it first appeared. _

_She dressed in a blue dress and pulled her hair back, and walked downstairs. Arnold and Helga were there, being their adorable selves. When Helga had finally confessed her love, she and Arnold had been inseparable. Arnold left for San Lorenzo soon after 7__th__ grade, devastating Helga. When he finally returned at the end of high school, no one was certain if they would be able to work past the hurt and rekindle their romance. Against all odds, they 'found' each other once more and had never been happier. _

_They now all lived together in a two bedroom townhouse in New York. Helga graduated from the Tisch school with a degree in Dramatic Writing, Phoebe and Arnold studied at NYU's School of Medicine, and Gerald had a cushy job bartending at an upscale restaurant, saving money to get a business degree. Things were largely going well, Arnold had even proposed to Helga a few weeks prior. The two were over the moon and busy planning for the big day._

_Phoebe had once planned for her 'big day' with Gerald, but it seemed as time went on that a long-lasting happy future with Gerald may was less and less likely. The romance had cooled, and while Gerald first claimed that he had thought of marrying her, he now claimed that the idea of marriage in general was an inane one. "I'd rather stay in a relationship with someone because she and I both want to, not because we're legally obligated to." _

_She had been hurt by that statement, but brushed it off as Gerald just being a man. But the troubles did not end there. Her figure was the same as it had been in fourth grade. "It's not that I like fat chicks, babe, or even the 'ideally' curved, but I want SOMETHING I can put my hands on..." She could do little about her figure! She ate fatty foods, did 'muscle building' workouts, but nothing seemed to work. It was incredibly disheartening. She couldn't tell Helga about any of this; while in complete bliss with her fiance, she was still very much 'Helga.' She would wring his neck if she knew the words he spoke to her. _

_As she descended, she looked at Gerald's face for sign of approval. "You look good, babe, but we're going to be climbing the jetty, you should probably wear pants or shorts." Phoebe walked back upstairs and put on a pair of light pants and a shirt, and walked back downstairs. _

"_Is this better?"_

"_Yeah, that's fine." He looked at her as if to ask why she seemed to be asking his permission. Phoebe let it go, not wanting to fight. Gerald tried to get Arnold to come along as they frequently fished together, but Arnold was sick, and declined the invitation. He looked on in pity at Phoebe. She did not like fishing, she barely liked the beach. He did not understand why Gerald insisted on bringing her by herself. He silently mouthed an apology to Phoebe, who nodded and looked back piteously. _

_Their ride to the beach was silent, each lost in their thoughts. When they finally got there, they moved several times, so that Gerald could find a good spot. Phoebe had a medical book with her, and read while Gerald fished. They moved a final time to the surf, after an unfortunate accident on the jetty had robbed Gerald of a portion of his tackle-box. _

A recent storm at sea caused an excess of seaweed and shark eggs to be left on the shore. Phoebe stood back from the mess. She was never fond of the beach. Her fair skin frequently burned, she did not like the people who frequented the beach, she hated the sand that got _everywhere_, and she despised the sticky feeling that came over everything simply by standing by the ocean. The sun and sky, however, were another story.

They had come to the beach close to sunset. The beauty was lost on Gerald – too focused on fishing to look 'up.' She had tried several times to alert him to the beautiful scenery, but each time, he dismissed it. Phoebe was entranced by it. She looked away from the ocean, the sky was a wash of pinks, oranges, purples, whites and blues. She stood watching the colors change, moved by their beauty. She looked back to the sea where the sky had already turned, and the beach was littered with seaweed, shark eggs, and other refuse. She watched Gerald cast his line time and time again.

"Is this my life? Is this all I'm destined to be, a shadow in the background? This minimal contact, minimal … anything, this is it?" She suddenly became aware of the cool weather, and hugged herself. It's too pretty to stand here doing nothing, she reasoned...

A couple walked by, with their young daughter trailing behind. 'We should be doing that,' she thought to herself. But how to get his attention?

Phoebe stepped forward and opened her mouth, and stopped. Gerald was here to fish, not to spend time with her. But... if he did not want to spend time with her, why would he have invited her to come with him? But... if he _did_ want to spend time with her, why was he spending so much time apart from her, not speaking to her? Would he be angry if distracted, or if he were asked to stop? She never knew these things with him. They had been together and known each other for many years, yet... sometimes she felt as though she barely knew him. Gerald always blamed the time she spent in school for the decay of their relationship, but Phoebe wondered if there was something more to it...

If she stayed silent, she could only blame herself for this terrible time. She would never know what his answer would be. If she spoke, he would either refuse her, or accept, but could she risk the fall-out of his refusal? _Phoebe Hana Hyerdahk,_ she scolded herself, _just DO it. Just step forward, open your mouth, and ASK. What's the worst that can happen, he'll yell at you? How is that different from normal? Just... DO it!_

She looked once more away from Gerald, to the brilliant setting sun. She took a deep breath, turned away from the light and stepped forward, avoiding an abandoned beer bottle and stray clump of seaweed.

"G...Gerald?"

_x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x_

End

I hope you liked it, guys. This was harder than I thought it was going to be, for more reasons than one. This is based on … something very real that happened to me recently, and I thought it might make a good story. I hope I was right :-)

_R&R 3 smooches _


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